Real
by PolkadotSunstar
Summary: Skittery doesn't believe in love, not until Snitch moves into town. Slash.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:** So I haven't written a Newsies fic in ages. So I hope this isn't too much of a fail.

**Disclaimer:** Newsies doesn't belong to me.

**Warning:** Slash, angst, child abuse.

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Skittery didn't believed in love until Snitch moved into town, and then it was almost as if the feeling took over his life.

--

He had just turned fifteen and the only thing that mattered to him was himself. He didn't like people in general, and it seemed they were just an unnecessary constant in his life, just something there to annoy the hell out of him. He felt like most things made him angry, even himself sometimes.

Sometimes he blames it all on the child abuse and other times he blames it on himself, but he mainly just feels it's something about him that won't ever change.

--

He doesn't remember when it started; he only knows that it did.

And he remembers that he would come home from school, and wind up with a broken nose for even looking at his dad the wrong way. At the time, he didn't even know there was a wrong way to look at a person you loved.

But, he didn't fight back because he loved his dad more than anything, or at least he did at the time; back when he still believed there was such a thing as love.

--

He was ten years old when his dad pushed him down the stairs and split a bone in his arm, but he never forgave him.

And it was the first time he realized that this wasn't going to stop; his dad was never going to love him and he just… gave up hoping. He gave up wishing on shooting stars and stopped crying himself to sleep, because he knew it didn't matter. He stopped dreaming of a better tomorrow and stopped thinking that love was a real emotion.

Because, you don't hit people you love, and if his own father couldn't love him, then it didn't exist.

--

He was fifteen and as much as he hates to admit it now, at the time he was done. He was done with living, done with being disappointed… he was just done.

But then the boy who took his breath away moved in across the street and smiled at him from the window when he walked by.

His heart started beating faster, he started to feel the butterflies in his stomach he'd heard so much about, his heart seemed to have a mind of its own and he found himself to be okay with that.

He liked that Snitch was the only other person at his bus stop and he liked that warm smiled aimed at him every morning.

He liked that even when it rained Snitch would round the corner with a grin on a face that would make his heart go wild.

This boy made him smile more in a week then he did in his whole life up to this point and he started to maybe believe in love.

Just a little bit.

--

The day Skittery turned sixteen, it was a Saturday and he was home alone.

He doesn't know how Snitch remembered, but he did.

And Skittery remembers opening the door to a beautiful boy holding a birthday cake, with a shy smile on his face and he remembers opening the door wider to let him in.

And he remembers leading him into the kitchen and taking the cake from his hands and swiping his thumb against the boy's cheek, rubbing just slightly before leaning in and taking Snitch's lips in a sweet kiss.

And he remembers pulling away, afraid of being rejected like so many times before and he remembers Snitch smiling softly and burrowing into his embrace and he remembers leading Snitch to the sofa with the cake and them sitting in each other's arms for hours, talking not even necessary.

And he remembers letting himself cry for the first time since he was ten years old, and he remembers Snitch's soft comforting words, and warm hugs and promises to take him away from his dad along with promises of forever.

And he remembers doubting it somewhere in the back of his mind, but hanging on to every last word.

He even remembers when the raining started and the lightning struck as the thunder clapped, and Snitch telling him how much he adored thunderstorms.

He remembers how Snitch held him, and how they shared one more kiss before he fell asleep in his arms.

He remembers how when he woke up in the morning, Snitch was still there and his arms were still wound tight around his thin frame.

And he remembers wondering where his dad was, for just a brief second before his mind was once again filled with thoughts of the beautiful boy he had fallen for so perfectly.

He remembers it all and he remembers feeling alive for the very first time in his life.

--

It was later that evening when the police came to his door and told him his father had been killed in a car accident.

He wants to say he cried, but that would be a lie.

He wants to say he was upset, but that would be a lie too.

So here's the complete truth, he was told that he was going to be shipped away in the morning to live with an Aunt and Uncle he had never heard of in a town that wasn't his own.

And after the police left, he sank to the floor, and buried his head in his hands and he heard a panicked knock on the front door but he just ignored it until eventually he felt someone pull him into their arms and suddenly Snitch was there and he felt almost whole again, until he remembered he would be _leaving._

And the tears started to fall as he brought Snitch's mouth to his own and they ate the rest of the birthday cake there on the floor as they cuddled into each other, silence all around them other than the sound of the rain on the windowpane.

And in the morning Skittery tilted Snitch up to meet his mouth, in what they had promised wasn't their last kiss and this wasn't the end this was just the beginning and someday their forever would come.

And Snitch kissed Skittery back with a force he didn't know he possessed and Skittery held onto him tightly for as long as he could before the taxi honked at him to hurry up because the meter was running, and Skittery held onto Snitch's last words for years, because he knew that it was real.

He finally had the one thing his father took from him and his father was taking it from him again, in a different way. But it was real, and Skittery finally believed in love.

--

_Comments are __adored. (:_


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: **This chapter is obnoxiously short and poorly written but the next one will be better, I promise. :)  
Thanks so much for the amazing reviews you guys!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own a thing.

**Warnings:** Slash, angst, language, child abuse.

--

Almost a year had passed and Skittery was left with only the memories.

He hardly felt real anymore but in his heart he still felt love and he still believed that someday Snitch would find him again and save him. Even if it took forever.

Sometimes, if he closed his eyes he still felt Snitch's lips on his, he could still taste the small boys chapstick and he could still smell the scent that was just purely, strictly _Snitch_.

And each time he felt his heart crack just a little bit more.

--

It was the day of Skittery's seventeenth birthday and a soft knock came to the door. His uncle had smiled at him and asked him to get it, and he did so without a word.

Skittery had opened the door wide and sucked in a breath when he saw Snitch rocking on his feet on the doorstep, a birthday cake in his hands and a shy smile playing on his lips.

Snitch had brushed passed the stunned boy and set the cake down on the table next to the stairs and reached past Skittery to close the door.

Skittery had turned around slowly and reached his hand out to twine his fingers with Snitch's before he tugged him to him for the sweetest kiss either boy had ever had.

Snitch opened his mouth in order to let his tongue dance with Skittery's and both boys lost all train of thought and were completely wrapped up in each other, the way it should always be.

When Skittery pulled away, breathless, he felt like he was flying.

--

Snitch stayed with Skittery for two days before he had to leave again, to go back to his own life.

Neither of them was ready to let go, not yet.

Each night Snitch had snuck from the guest room back into Skittery's room and they had stayed up until the early hours of the morning just talking, about everything.

Skittery told Snitch about all the things he remembered about his mom and Snitch told Skittery about all the stupid things he had done as a child.

And in between the stories there was kissing and there was touching and there was everything that they wished they could have in a life together. There was love and there was passion and there were no tears and no problems of the past.

--

There were more tearful goodbyes and whispered promises and hearts aching with want and need and Skittery lasted a week before he did the only thing he could think to do.

He ran.

--

Reviews are _adored. _


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